Mortola's Revenge
by Silvertongue-Inkspell
Summary: Ombra in ruins, Dustfinger gone, and Meggie, becoming a fire eater? Please R&R. Chapter 4 has been submitted.
1. A New Path

**Chapter One**

**A New Path**

When the Black Prince and company were ready to leave the mine it was already late evening. They would travel under the cloak of night to avoid the Adders gaze and make their way back to Badger's Earth. Roxane and six of the remaining robbers had departed in the morning and were already on a course to Ombra, along with Dustfinger. Roxane could barely stand the sight of Dustfingers lifeless body without overflowing with tears, let alone escort his body back to Lombrica. The robber's had picked him up, cloak still over him, by his hands and feet because they didn't have any access to a cart in Argenta.

Farid had said nothing when he saw Dustfingers body being carried away, he just sat outside in silence, as much a Meggie tried to cheer him up. _What could she know, she has her mother, her father and he has lost his closest friend, his teacher, he was like a father_ thought Farid. When the sun had finally set and the night was quiet, did the Black Prince, Mo and his family, Farid and Orpheus who no matter how much he complained never did get to ride a horse, set off into the shadow of night.

The Castle of Night loomed over them with its magnificent towers as they continued on for the Badger's Earth. It was very eerie in the Wayless Wood that night and the Black Prince's bear kept snorting every time something moved within the trees. Mo wound still wasn't healed completely, but thanks to the Barn Owl everything was taking a turn for the best. The Barn Owl had left with Roxane and would be returning to the Infirmary as soon as he was finished his business in Ombra and taken some herbs from Roxane's farm. The night was cold and the air was bitter but it was still better then the mine that smelled of the dead.

It was about dawn when they arrived at the Badger's Earth. It was mostly deserted other then a few moss women and Nettle who were tending to the injured whose bodies still clung to life. Only a few of the robbers, the prisoners from the Castle of Night and the Black Prince went in. Minutes later the Black Prince returned along with the robbers with provisions for the rest of the trip, but the prisoners stayed behind to rest. No one else went with them from the Badgers Earth and no one mentioned Dustfinger even though some had asked about him. They pressed on through the morning but had to move at a slower pace through out the day for Mo had started to develop a fever again and the wound began to give him pain for every step they took. At about dusk they arrived in Lombrica and the Black Prince and his band of robber's left the group at the Inn by the Border, along with Orpheus, Fenoglio and Farid who continued towards Ombra so that they could get to the castle before the gate was closed (at the thought staying in the Castle of the Laughing Prince, Orpheus became overjoyed).

When Meggie, Mo, and Resa checked in to the inn they finally were in peace and sat there and began to talk.

"So….Meggie, if you ever get the idea to read yourself into a book, tell your mom and I first that way we can come to." Meggie began to laugh. It was comforting for Mo and Resa to see their daughter laugh again.

"There's something I need to tell you both…" Meggie began to cry, "I'm sorry, if it wasn't for me and my silly idea of reading Farid and I into the book you never would have been shot and mom, you would have never had to be a prisoner in the Castle of Night!"

Meggie began to cry on Resa's shoulder and Mo rapped his arms around Resa and Meggie,

"But Meggie, its no your fault, now I have my voice back and your father wound is almost healed." spoke Resa in a soothing voice.

"Besides," said Mo cheerfully "We have a whole bunch of things to see in Ombra together and we might even end up staying, or at least until Dustfinger is back."

Meggie hesitated for a moment.

"You still believe he will come back, that Orpheus will find a way" Mo expression turned hostile at the sound of the name.

"Yes I do, even if we have to….even if it's Orpheus…" groaned Mo

"And Elinor and Darius, what about them" Meggie looked at them pleadingly.

"I don't know, but we will find a way." Mo smiled.

The night lingered on through the windows of their room. In silence Meggie sat there and glanced at Mo and Resa, now sleeping. She was used to seeing a room full of books and Mo sitting there hard at work as he tirelessly healed the eaten covers of one of his clients' novels. She remembered her bedroom, soft and warm, and the chest of books that was still at Elinor's that Mo had so finely decorated. But now it was different, not because she was in the Inkworld, but because she had nothing. No books, no room, no Elinor…..she was alone except for her parents and Farid. She blushed at the thought of his face and slowly began to cry, wishing she was back, wishing for a world she couldn't have. As she fell asleep she began to dream, of all those wonderful books and of Elinor and Darius and the garden that was so peaceful and quiet and of her family.


	2. Ombra

**Chapter Two**

**Ombra**

When they arrived at the gate of Ombra there were no guards actually there really wasn't anyone. The streets were bare, the market was silent other then the black banners that hung from the merchant stands in the market swaying in the wind, the air outside had been inviting and calm, but in Ombra it was frozen, like an endless pit. The sight of it was disheartening and the Castle of Sighs hung the same banners from the window panes. There were no sounds of clinking hammers of the blacksmiths, of merchants trying to sell their goods to passing crowds, no children playing in the streets and the alleys, nothing.

Mo, Meggie and Resa walked silently looking at all the ruin that the city had come to. The fight against the Adderhead's men that Cosimo had so foolishly led had taken its toll on Ombra. Meggie wondered how Violante felt after the recent events that had unfolded. Her husbands death, again, and the death of most of the men of Ombra, what was she to do. Jacopo was still too young to rule and his advisors, if there were any left, were not in any position to delegate authority over the people which left this responsibility solely on the shoulders of Violante.

"We should make for the castle and see if Fenoglio and Farid have arrived yet, and also see if we can find somewhere to stay." Resa finally spoke.

No one else spoke, they just nodded still dazed by the sight of Ombra, and although Meggie had told Mo and Resa about the fight they were still shocked to see such a depressing sight. Mo had never seen Ombra before either, in a peaceful time, and now to have to see it like this, so deserted, was not the most welcoming of places to be. They stopped at the front of the castle gate and peered inside the inner courtyard. There were no guards and the statue of Cosimo that had once shone in the afternoon light now was hidden with withered vines and cracks in the stone. As they walked forward the dead leaves and branches crackled under their feet and the smell of a raging fire and black soot drifted to them on the wind. Farid was playing with the fire behind the trees dancing with torches like Dustfinger once had. It was good to see that Farid was in a better mood.

As Farid finished, he jumped, startled to see Meggie clapping and blushed under his dark skin.

"We didn't expect that you'd be hear yet." he muttered, "Fenoglio is waiting inside with Cheeseface and Violante."

He picked up the torches, chucked them into the bag and picked up Jink and put him on his shoulder, then he beckoned them forward and showed them to where Fenoglio was waiting for them.

"A hello, we weren't expecting you for a couple hours but your hear now..." Fenoglio struggled at a loss of words, "Which is good, I guess."

"Allow me to introduce to you to Lady Violante, the ruler of this castle."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." she said awkwardly,

"Fenoglio tells me of your most unfortunate experience in Argenta and the Castle of Night. I'm incredibly sorry, if I had known I might have been able to prevent such a misfortune but my word has no effect on my father and his decisions. He hates me as much as I hate him." she chuckled in a nervous way.

Mo looked confused and then all of the sudden contorted his face at the feeling of a sharp pain in his chest. Resa quickly lowered him on the bed and pulled up a chair beside him and rubbed his forehead gently.

"I'm fine, it's gone now." Mo sighed, "Now tell me what in earth you are talking about!"

They went on into a long conversation, as she explained about being the daughter of the Adderhead, their time in the Castle of Night and the book that had granted the Adderhead immortality which greatly surprised Violante. Throughout the conversation Meggie slipped away to go see Farid and they sat outside of the steps and talked. Farid loved the sound of her voice; how she laughed….he loved her. He longed to be with her and yet he had another duty, a duty to Dustfinger.

Orpheus had ventured upstairs to the room that Balbulus worked and into the library. He was fascinated by the books in the castle and had been in there for hours reading and had told Farid not to bother him at all which was perfectly fine with Farid, the less time with Cheeseface, the better.


	3. A Death on the Wrong Side of the Forest

**Chapter Three**

**A Death on the Wrong Side of the Forest**

It had been two weeks since the Adderhead had let his prisoners leave, still convinced that Mortola was responsible for the attack and was going to use this against him. He was no longer frightened of the White Women and of death, why should he be he was immortal…or was he. He had had Tadeo give the book to one of his maids and he carefully watched as she placed the book within in the hidden snake of the Adderhead's s quarters and then had her killed, everyone thought for an unknown reason. But the Adderhead had never found out about the secret within the book. It had been easy enough for Mo to write on one of the extra sheets of parchment,

_And within two weeks time that the Adderhead was given the book of immortality the words would write themselves without anyone knowing and with those words, death would finally consume the Adderhead. Three simple words, Heart, Spell, Death._

They had been the easiest words to write, secret words meant to kill, it was easy for Mo to kill off his mortal enemy, very easy. He had read them almost as quietly as a whisper, as to not wake Meggie or to let the guards outside the door hear. Once the words had been read he had carefully set them aflame and then they would be read no more. The Adderhead had been sitting on his silver throne with his servants obeying his every whim as he decided the sentence for another innocent prisoner when his face went white. He looked horrified as three of the White Women passed through the audience within the court and stretched their hands to the Adderhead. The last words he had spoken were,

"I am immortal, I am forever, I fear no death, you shall never take me with you, never!" and with that the white women had vanished and the Adderhead dropped flat on his face as his skinned whitened and his breath, lost. They could not check the book because they didn't know where it was, but at the moment of his death Mortola slipped away, found the book concealed within one of his many silver vipers, and sure enough along with his name there were three words under it. Heart, Spell, Death.

That same night Mortola had taken the book with her had stolen the finest ink remover within the castle and that same night killed off the Adderhead's wife and child and with no heir to the throne Mortola would be free to take the throne as long as none of his daughters got in the way. She could have killed Mo that same night also, but she had sworn that she would do it personally and so she kept the book without any words written in it. It was believed that the Adderhead had died from a heart attack after shock of encountering the White Women and with no way to disprove it with the words in the book, it was the simplest answer.

Three days after this most happy event, Violante was sent an urgent message telling her that her father had died of an unknown cause and so that night Violante threw a grand celebration in honor of the death of the Adderhead. The women of Ombra did in fact attend the castle for the festivities and Violante even let the Strolling Players in, although it took much convincing. It was a grand night in Ombra, the castle was finally alive, and Mo knew that his plan had worked; maybe he wasn't too bad of a writer he thought to himself. The festivities lasted for quite some time into the late hours of the night and even when the castle had cleared and the Strolling Players had slipped away there was still rejoicing among the streets.

That night when the festivities were still going and everyone was dancing as the minstrels softly plucked the lute, Violante had made for her bedroom where she sat down at her desk, took out a piece of parchment and dipped her quill in ink and began to write,

_To The Castle of Night,_

_Three days ago a most wonderful event occurred and today we have received the letter bringing such splendid news from the other side of the forest, for a change, and we are happy to announce within the streets of our fair Ombra that my retched father is finally dead. Let my tell you that indeed I shall be attending his funeral and I hope that his body is long forgotten after it is buried. I give the White Women my most fondest gratitude and I'm letting them know that they can take me any time, just as long as my father stays with them._

_Lady Violante,_

_The Castle of the Laughing Prince(ss)_

_P.S. I will be laughing all the way to and from the funeral._

Then she cleared her table with a pleased grin, carefully folded the letter and gave it to the only messenger still alive in Ombra. After she had done that she joined in the celebration once again, it was the happiest she had felt since she saw Cosimo step through the castle doors. The next day the banners of black were taken down from the castle and the market and banners of red, yellow, and blue were hung in the market, and the castle once again flew the flags of blue and white. The castle was now The Castle of the Laughing Princess. The spirit of Ombra was back!


	4. Laughter, a Cure and the Day at Market

**Chapter Four**

**Laughter, a Cure and the Day in the Market.**

Life was working its magic upon the hearts of the people once again. The women were fixing up the stalls on the west side of the market, banners were being hung, children played and the merchants flooded in from the south end of the city. Violante was feeling in the best of spirits that day. The market was back and the people were healthy and happy, she even told the Strolling Players that they were welcome to attend the market. She had even decided to help clear the dead leaves out of the outer courtyard and around the statues of her husband which was amazing. Mo and Resa were shopping in the market and every few stalls Mo would go on about how he would have to read his bookbinding tools here. They hadn't decided to stay, but it just felt at the moment that it was where they belonged. They had also decided to persuade Orpheus into writing them a page to bring Elinor and Darius there so that they could all be together. As they walked pass countless stalls the merchants beckoned them forward but they paid no attention. The smell of exotic fruits and perfumes, different herbs and roots, vegetables and pieces meat cuts from the locals rose to their nostrils as they walked on.

Meggie and Farid had talked all night of the market that would come in the morning and Farid said that he would perform and insisted that Meggie help.

"But how!" she had scrutinized him last night for bringing up such an absurd idea, she had said that she would do anything but read things out of books for that was to risky and if Mo ever found out……Farid had told her that she could help him play with fire, but it would take time for her to learn. She reluctantly had agreed and they had practiced all night together and were still practicing when the sun began to rise over the hills.

"Meggie you must call to the fire, you must show it that you are the one who is in control!" he laughed at the sight of her fumbling around with little flames on her fingertips.

"But I have no clue what I'm doing Farid!" Meggie whined, "My fingertips are already burnt and swollen and I can barely get it to stay on my fingertips without hurting or losing the flame!"

She slower moved her fingers around impatiently, gasping for breath, in pain from stinging fingers

"It is your fear!" laughed Farid, "The fire knows your fear, you won't become an expert fire-eater in one day but as long as you fear the fire it shall bite."

Farid took the fire from her and told her to sit down and put some of the salve he had on her fingers.

"It will help cool the pain." He said, turning around and calling the fire to the palm of his hand.

"What are you afraid." said Farid mingling with the fire. "If there was something that would make you feel absolutely hopeless, what would it be?"

Meggie knew right away, to loose Mo, for him to die and for her mother to be gone, to leave her with no one to depend on.

She paused for a moment.

"If my parents….if they…..if they died!" she said faintly.

Farid looked at her for a moment, sympathy in his eyes, _why was he doing this_ he thought, _he had lost Dustfinger, was it because he loved her so much, was it because he felt so deeply for her._

"Well now that you have established your fear you must see the fire as your fear, you must tame the fire, you must tame your fear."

Flowers began to blossom at Meggie's feet, there petals fading as a new flower replaced it, and then they crawled through the air and danced around her face and settled within her hand. She stood up and tried to keep the flower alive but as soon as Farid stopped feeding it with his voice it began to die. She looked angry as it faded away and as much as she called out to it, it would not answer. She began to mutter slowly.

"You…are…my…fear, you shall obey. You are my fear you shall obey! YOU ARE MY FEAR AND YOU SHALL OBEY! YOU WILL FORM INTO A FLOWER AND DANCE UPON MY HAND!" here voice was now so loud that some of the people who were still cleaning in the courtyard had turned to look at the commotion.

Instead of just one simple flower blooming in the air about thirty bright, radiant flowers flew wildly into the air and danced around her in a sphere of flowers, as she moved her arms around the flowers began to dance in all directions around the courtyard and flew free under her control. Then as she smiled at what she had finally accomplished, she lost concentration; the flowers blew off and quickly died. Farid began to laugh and came towards her slowly clapping.

"Now if you could control the flowers the way you did just now without starting in a wild tangent we could have an amazing show together." He smiled at her as she blushed again.

"You still think I'm going to perform with you!" she said sarcastically

"Well that has been the whole point of this sleepless cession of teaching I've had to endure and finally you put on a decent display and you don't want to help me, you know we could be great together." He came towards her and took her hand as if it would help persuade her to help him. Meggie looked longingly into his eyes as she felt the blood rush to her head and her heart beat faster and faster. He bent his head and kissed her softly on the lips, it was the best feeling Meggie had felt ever since she had seen her father, even if it wasn't a very long one.

Meggie turned away pretending to be offended and snickered,

"Now what did you mean by a "decent display"." She looked up and burst out laughing.

"Of course I'll help you as long I can do my flower trick." She said with a joyful smile.

"As you wish……your highness!" and at that moment Farid darted off, Meggie close behind chasing after him and threatening him for insulting her.

Mo and Resa were still browsing the market purchasing some new clothes from a fancy vendor even though Violante had offered to have some made for them. Resa had got a beautiful jade and light brown dress that was made of soft silk supposedly spun by the dust of the faeries of the Wayless Wood, most likely just something to make the customer more interested in the piece. Mo had purchased a fine blue tunic and a green cotton shirt to match his wife. They had also bought Meggie another book about a fairytale set in a world beyond the sea that bordered the Castle of Night. They were nearing the end of the market when they were approached by a rather old looking man trying to keep so many herbs and fruits in his hands that his face couldn't be seen. Mo reached out, took some of the fruit from him and finally recognized the man behind the herbs, the Barn Owl.

"Ha ha, oh thank-you so much, all these things are absolutely impossible to carry."

Resa lifted some of the herbs from his arms and glanced briefly at his face.

"A the lovely wife I presume, I never did get to meet you in that dreadful mine, people call me the Barn Owl and I was tending to your husband in the castle." said the Barn Owl in a prideful tone.

"Thank-you so much, you don't know how happy I am that you were there to aid him through that awful time, but where are my manners, my name is Teresa, you can call me Resa though."

The Barn Owl smiled warmly at Resa's beautiful face and then turned to Mo,

"By the way, how is that dastardly wound of yours?" He looked at Mo chest with a concerned face where the bullet had pierced its way through Mo.

"Oh better, better, it gives me sharp pains every once and awhile but it's nothing major." he reassured the Barn Owl.

"That's good, but don't be silly, pain is always a major matter, whether small or big, you never know what might be going on inside." he shuffled around with the herbs in his hands and then finally picked one out of the batch.

"Ah ha, this one is especially intended for you, I had a feeling we would meet here so I took the liberty of buying you this." He handed it to Mo, "This is called Ash-Burrow Weed, if you grind it and put it into some juice or milk it will sooth the pain and speed up the healing process, you only need about a teaspoon in each glass, or else it will taste extremely bitter."

He paused shortly.

"Oh and if you ever need more, I think Roxane knows where to get some, but in recent events it's probably not good to talk to her just yet.

He quickly gathered his things from Mo and Resa.

"I'm sorry our chat must be so short but I have to purchase a few more things and then be back on my way to the Infirmary. It was a pleasure to finally meet you Teresa, and Mo, trust me; your wound shall be gone in no time."

He went over to a small cart, loaded his things into it and then turned around once more to look at them.

"Well, good-bye for now." He called and then he had disappeared into the crowd.


End file.
